The Comptroller’s Officeof Public Accounts

Building Stronger, Smaller, Smarter, Faster Government

Or Showcasing How the U.T. Survey

of Organizational Excellence Serves as a Management Tool to Enhance

the Workplace

Presented by: Ann Cook, PHR, Classification Analyst, Comptroller’s Office Morris Winn, Manager Human Resources, Comptroller’s Office

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Our PurposeAs Texas’ chief financial officer, the Comptroller collects taxes andfees owed the state and recommends ways of streamlining governmentAnd making it leaner, more efficient and accountable to taxpayers.

Heart and Soul of State Government

We provide reforms for streamlining government, making services more efficient and less costly.

We are the state’s traffic cops, looking for ways of cutting waste.

We collect taxpayer’s money and watch over the way thosedollars are spent.

We estimate revenue for the biennial budget and project the rate of economic growth and activity.

Heart and Soul of State Government

We administer more than 30 state taxes and process3.3 million tax returns annually.

We collect the overwhelming majority of taxes due the state. Inthe coming biennium, we will collect $48.7 billion (including& 27.6 billion in sales taxes, more than $5.3 billion in motorfuel taxes and $4.2 billion in franchise taxes).

We dispense state dollars. One of our many responsibilities is to handle payroll for all state agencies and cut monthly paychecks for all state employees. In addition, we pay every bill submitted to the state.

Heart and Soul of State Government

We track 640 state funds and accounts.

In order to be readily accessible, we maintain 17 audit and34 enforcement offices throughout Texas and an active Web site.

We operate a dozen toll-free phone lines handling an averageof 475 calls every hour. We handle questions from businesses and consumers and try to answer each one promptly.

Heart and Soul of State Government

We put a price tag on most pieces of legislation

Our property tax division works with appraisal districts statewide to compile accurate figures for the value of landand buildings.

We audit school districts for efficiency and effectiveness andgive them ways to channel more of every dollar to classrooms,where they belong.

Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander’sTen Principles for Texas in the New Century

1. Develop a better-educated workforce2. Direct more of every education dollar into the classroom3. Raise the bar on student performance4. Cut taxes in Texas.5. Introduce competition into government6. Improve government performance and accountability7. Reduce the size of government8. Bring common sense to regulations9. Use technology to cut costs and increase quality10. Return control to communities and individuals

A Time Sensitivity Approach to the SurveySeptember – November 1999

Ideas

EventsThe Idea & Preparation Phase

*Human Resources Brainstorming

*Additional Questions & Organizational Codes developed in conjunction with survey office

*Electronic Employee list sent to survey office.

*Personnel Liaison kick-off activities

*Pre-Survey Distribution activities including E-mails, newsletter articles, flyers, posters & cross-agency mixers

The Survey Distribution &Data Collection Phase

November – December 1999

•Survey delivered to Agency

•Employee Participation Reminders

•Survey completed by Employees

Survey Data InterpretationPhase

December 1999 – January 2000

•Agency Survey Analysis prepared

•Survey results delivered to Executive Management

•Survey results distributed to Employees

The Assessment& Implementation Phase

January – June 2000

*Survey results provided to Agency Planners for Strategic Plan.

*Shadow Managing Executives in how to use results.

*Final Report to Executive Management On identifying Initiatives to improve programs.

The Business Problem (s)

Problem(s)

Root causes of Problem

Strategies for Improving

How to secure the maximum Employee ParticipationIn this first-time survey.

*Employee Apathy *Skepticism with survey anonymity*Results will not impact status quo…..why bother?

*Small group meetings with Employees/Managers*Project leaders available to Rank and File employees*Recruiting division cheerleaders

Problem(s)

Root causes of Problem

Strategies for Improving

The Business Problem (s)

How to secure Top Agency Management or ExecutiveLevel buy-in to the survey.

*Agency has not previously participated in survey.*Agency headed by elected official

*Find common ground*Elected Official must be daring and willing to think“out of the box.”

EXAMPLES OF COMMUNICATION

TO: Comptroller Employees

   

FROM: Morris Winn, Manager of Human Resources

   

SUBJECT: Survey of

Organizational Excellence   

DATE: December 1, 1999

   

  

Your Opinion Counts and Here’s Why The State of Texas and Comptroller Rylander want your opinion and here’s why. The Comptroller’s Office is one of more than 55 other state agencies that will participate in the Survey of Organizational Excellence this year. The Survey is a state employee satisfaction survey administered by the School of Social Work at the University of Texas. The Survey is a tool used by agency and state leadership to assess from the employees’ perspective the quality of life in the workplace. Comptroller Rylander wants your help in assessing the effectiveness of our agency, what you think our organization is doing well and where you think we need to improve. Survey results will be shared with agency management and employees and used to pinpoint areas where we are successful and identify areas where we need to make improvements. An independent contractor tabulates survey results and individual survey responses remain anonymous. The Survey of Organizational Excellence was distributed the week of November 29, 1999 and employees have approximately 14 days to complete the survey. Our goal for this survey is a 100 percent employee response rate. The more employees that complete the survey assures a more accurate picture of the agency’s strengths and areas for improvement. Additional information about the survey is available on the Internet at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/sswork/survey/. If you have general questions regarding the survey please contact LaDene Dorsett at 936-2831, Curt Besselman at 463-4792 or your survey liaison.  c John Colyandro

Mike ReganSteve Hudson

MEMO

Internet Web site

The Comptroller’s Office is one of more than 55other state agencies that will participate in the Survey of Organizational Excellence this year. TheSurvey is a state employee satisfaction survey administered by the School of Social Work at theUniversity of Texas. It is a tool used by the agencyand state leadership to assess from the employees’perspective the quality of life in the workplace.Results will be shared with agency management and employees and used to pinpoint areas where we are successful and identify areas where we need to make improvements. An independent contractor tabulates survey results and individual survey responsesanonymous. The Survey of Organizational Excellence was distributed the week of November 29, 1999 and employees have approximately 14 days to complete the survey. Our goal for this survey is a 100 percent response rate. The more employees that complete the survey assures a more accurate picture of the agency’sstrengths an areas needing improvement. Additional information about the survey is available on the Internetat:  http://www.utexas.edu/depts/sswork/survey/ If you have general questions regarding the survey please contact LaDene Dorsett at 936-2831, Curt Besselman at 463-4792 oryour survey liaison.

The �Survey

Your Opinion Counts andHere’s Why

Posters and Print Media

Your

opinion counts!

 For more information, call

LaDene Dorsettat 936-2831 orCurt Besselman

At 463-4792. 

  

 

Comptroller Rylander knows that asking questions is the best way to learn.

 

That’s why we’re asking for your participationin the Survey ofOrganizationalExcellence. Thesurvey is administeredby the University of TexasSchool of Social Work.  Responses will remain

anonymous and results will be shared with agency employees.  Our goal for this survey is100 percent employee responseto accurately evaluate the agency’sstrengths and areas forimprovement. All employeesare encouraged to participate. 

  

STRATEGIC PLANNNG

SURVEY OF ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE RESULTS  During the month of December, the University of Texas at Austin’s Survey of Organizational Excellence was distributed to each Comptroller employee. The Survey is designed to assess employee satisfaction with their work environment and has been administered by the university’s Center for Social Work Research since 1980. Factors include general organization, team perceptions, physical work setting, personal demands, and communication. The Comptroller's office participated in the survey for the first time ever under Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander and achieved 54% employee participation! Of the 17 large agencies that participated in the survey this year, the agency was second overall--and that group includes agencies that have participated many times before.  The Survey is organized into 20 "constructs" or categories designed to broadly profile areas of the work environment. Employees were asked to rank answers on a scale from 1-5 with three being the average. In 17 of the 20 constructs, the agency ranked above average. The remaining 3 constructs indicate opportunities for growth. Two of the strengths were Strategic Orientation and External Communication; employees identified Fair Pay and Empowerment as areas of concern.  In comparison to agencies of like size, scores for the Comptroller’s office ranked higher in each of the 20 constructs, with the exception of Fair Pay and Benefits.  The Survey results will be shared with executive administration, agency managers and employees. Human Resources will meet with division managers to discuss their specific division results and distribute a comprehensive report of survey results. The agency anticipates forming manager and employee focus groups to address strategies to maintain the agency’s strengths and to improve areas identified as opportunities for growth. Managers and employees will be provided a full range of information enabling them to initiate programs and policies that will assist in a journey to excellence. Further information on the survey instrument may be obtained from the University of Texas at Austin Center for Social Work Research at http://www.survey.utexas.edu.

Comptroller of Public Accounts Strategic Plan

Agency StrengthsStrategic Organization 397Time & Stress Mgt 365Quality 361External Communication 361Benefits 355

Opportunities for ImprovementsSupervisor Effectiveness 285Fair Pay 289Empowerment 294Fairness 305Holographic (Consistency) 308

REPORTING RESULTS

*AGENCY

*MANAGEMENT

*EMPLOYEES

Survey of Organizational Excellence

Fall 1999 Survey Results

Response Rate 54% Total Respondents 1406

Surveys Distributed 2620

Highlights of Survey of Organizational Excellence Results

Total of 20 constructs designed to broadly profile areas of the work environment

*Received scores of 3.0 or above in 17 constructs*Received scores below 3.0 in 3 constructs

Who Participated?Male 39.19%Female 43.67%

Race/Ethnic IdentificationAfrican-American 11.17%Hispanic-American 17.14%Anglo-American 47.65%Asian-American 2.13%Other 3.06%

Highest Scoring Constructs: Agency Strengths

Strategic Orientation 397Time & Stress Management 365Quality 361External Communication 361Benefits 355

Lowest Scoring Constructs: Opportunities for Improvement

Supervisor Effectiveness 285Fair Pay 289Empowerment 294Fairness 305Holographic (Consistency) 308

Highest Scoring Constructs: Agency Strengths

Survey Construct CPA Avg. Statewide Avg. Point Difference

Strategic Orientation 397 392 5 pts. Above

Time & Stress Management 365 336 29 pts. Above

Quality 361 360 1 pt. Above

External Communication 361 362 1 pt. Above

Lowest Scoring Constructs: Areas of Concern

Survey Construct CPA Avg. Statewide Avg. Point Difference

Supervisor Effectiveness 285 293 8 pts. Below

Fair Pay 289 302 13 pts. Below

Empowerment 294 304 10 pts. Below

Fairness 305 289 16 pts. Above

Holographic (Consistency) 308 317 9 pts. Below

ORGANIZATION CODE

DESCRIPTION

101 Executive Administration (Comm, LAG, IA)

102 General Counsel103 Account Maintenance104 Revenue Processing105 Revenue Accounting

106Revenue Admin/Revenue Refunds

107 Claims108 Funds Accounting109 ACR/Revenue Estimating/Fiscal

Mgt. Admin.

110 Enforcement111 Audit / Criminal Investigation112 Tax Policy/Tax Administration113 Property Tax

114 Human Resources/Agency Admin115 Information Technology116 Support Services/Quick Copy117 Budget and Internal Accounting118 Treasury119 SECO120 Research & Policy Development

*CPA Total Number of Responses in ORG. Code = 1406

TOTAL SURVEY RESPONSES

26

5042 37

69

28

59

3626

193

284

65

2719

119

25

13

38

12

60

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

ORGANIZATION CODE

NU

MB

ER

OF R

ES

PO

NS

ES

Org Code Org Code Description

Total # ofResponses in Org Code

AdminAvg Score

of Org Code304 Comptroller 1406 3.35101 Executive Admn (Comm, LAG, IA) 26 3.6102 General Counsel 50 3.32103 Account Maintenance 42 3.43104 Revenue Processing 37 3.36105 Revenue Accounting 69 3.48106 Revenue Admin/Revenue Funds 28 3.3107 Claims 59 3.44108 Funds Accounting 36 3.56109 ACR/Revenue Estimating/Fiscal Mgt 26 3.52110 Enforcement 193 3.27111 Audit/Criminal Investigation 284 3.31112 Tax Policy/Tax Administration 65 3.26113 Property Tax 27 3.15114 Human Resources/Agency Admin 19 3.38115 Information Technology 119 3.28116 Support Services/Quick Copy 25 3.27117 Budget and Internal Accounting 13 3.68118 Treasury 38 3.68119 SECO 12 3.45120 Research & Policy Development 60 3.36

Organizational Code Survey Results

Survey Cheerleaders

*Familiar, frequent interaction with employees

*Liaison to disseminate information, address concerns

*Recognition of Cheerleaders